stargzr, I can really relate to how you're feeling. Sometimes, it just feels like no matter what I do, I'll never be thin. In fact, I have people in my life who will tell me this very thing, so it really does get in my head sometimes. I also tend to get stuck on the fact that even though I've lost a lot of weight, the areas that were always problems areas are still problem areas and it starts to feel like they're never going away. To deal with this and keep moving forward, I've really had to learn to stay focused and find positive, supportive people (like all of you :)) to help me through. I have also really made an effort change the way I think about my body- when I look in the mirror, every thing's a work in progress, so I may not love everything I see. However, where I used to focus on things like the flab on my arms and how much I hate my thighs, now I see arms that can do 10 push-ups, legs that can run 3 miles... and I feel power in that. A few months ago there was no way I could even come close to doing either of those things! You have to see your body as more than a number on the scale. Weight-loss is about way more than that and even if the last few pounds are hanging on for dear life, you are creating a stronger, healthier, more powerful you. It's hard to remember sometimes, but it's true!

nurse, let me know if your feelings toward running change! After writing that yesterday, I ended up going for a run and was feeling a bit more positive about the whole thing.

jazzang, welcome!

Lori, sorry about the tooth! Hope you feel better soon!

fashinjunkie, Intense workouts are so good for you, even if your weight is fluctuating a bit. Maybe you're just trading fat for some ripped muscles :)

And...guess what?!! Weighed in at 159.4 this morning!!!! First time seeing that beautiful 5. I think I'll wait until Sat to make it official, but it makes me want to push that much harder!

Thank you stargzr!

tuende, thank you too! And woo hoo 150's! I'm jealous! ;) I'll be following you soon I hope!

Thank all you ladies for your advice/support! I dont know what I'd do without it! :)

tuende, I'm so happy for you that you made it into the 150s! I'll really miss you until I get there, so now I have to work doubly hard to get there fast!

fashinjunkie, thanks for saying I might be building muscle! It's nice to delude myself into thinking that I gained weight in muscle, but I've always heard it takes a long time to build up muscle weight, and I've only done weight lifting and strength training at the gym 4 times. :lol: I think I'll still blame it on my muscles retaining water, at least for now.

I hope your muscles are retaining water too, or that you've gained muscle weight, so that your 164 is actually lower!

I went back to the kitchen after school today to make stuff with my students, and I almost indulged. We were making nuts and bolts (sort of like Bits and Bites). I had a couple small pieces of pretzel and then I remembered I was doing low carb and avoiding cereals, breads, and pastas. Maybe it was poor planning on my part to make my old favourite snack, which also happens to be nothing but carbs!

Congrats Tuende!

Hey ladies! I weighed 159.2 on Monday, but wanted to wait a few days to see if I would go back up before sharing the good news. Well, two days later, my weight is 159.0! I'm officially out of the 160s!! I'll be sticking around for another 2 to 3 lbs if you all don't mind. I really like this thread and all of you.

Thanks everyone! I think I'll stick around for another few days, just to be sure though. All of you better kick *** like I know you can and join me soon. Until then, I'll be lost without you!

Stargzr, I like that idea about the picture. Great reminder of how far you've come and how much hard work it took to get there.

miss, congrats!! If we can ever tear ourselves away from this thread, at least we can keep each other company for the *short* time until our friends join us in the 150's thread.

Kirjava, kids food can be so tempting! I was subbing in a Head Start preschool class yesterday and I had to feed the kids mac and cheese for lunch!! Of course there were apples, cucumbers, broccoli and salad (for 4 year olds?), but none of them touched it. At first I wanted to eat some, but that thought was quickly replaced with the fact that the mac and cheese is complete processed garbage. I stayed away from it, but kind of felt bad feeding it to the kids. I shouldn't really get started on this topic though- school lunches in general drive me insane! Are they as horrible there as they are here?

Congratulations Miss and Tuende! That's fantastic - good job!!

I love this support group idea! It really helps me stick to my plan, knowing that other people are going through the same steps!

Tomorrow I'm going to need some strength. I'm going out to dinner with a lady from work's daughter. Being new here, it's hard to meet people, so I'm looking forward to it. But eating out is scary - how can you stick to a plan while eating out and having a drink?? I'm decided I'm getting a martini (vodka, not a flavored one) and having either a grilled meat or a salad with dressing on the side.

Today, I discovered a store called Penzey's that stocks all sorts of spices. It's fantastic! I'm looking forward to playing with my new finds. I LOVE cooking!

Congratulations, MiSSxB! I don't blame you for sticking around, because this thread has definitely been amazingly helpful to me. I think we lucked out being in the 160s when we were, because we seem to have an excellent group of supportive people!

Good luck at the restaurant, Nicole! It's good you have a plan for what you should eat before you go there, so you don't get tempted to indulge in other menu items.

tuende, our community is so small that all the teachers and kids go home for lunch, because everywhere is within walking distance. I don't know what kinds of things the kids have for lunch, but I do know that the main concern is whether the kids are eating at all, not whether what they're eating is healthy. There are so many kids who don't eat because their parents have blown all the family's money on alcohol and drugs, or because the parents are too messed up on alcohol and drugs to go to the store to buy food. We give the students a bowl of cereal in the mornings, but that's all we can manage.

We also sell fairly healthy snacks at canteen at recess time. Stuff like oatmeal cookies, yogurt, fruit, juice, trail mix, pretzels, popcorn, the nuts and bolts I made yesterday, etc. Lots of parents just give their kids money instead of actually feeding them themselves, so the kids spend it at school, or at the stores. At least when they spend it at school we know it has some nutritional value, and they're getting a good deal for their money; if they go to the store, they'll buy chips, or pop, or chocolate bars, or gum, or slushies. Because everything is so expensive, $20 can easily be blown on a "meal" that will only fill a kid up for a couple hours. Then they're starving again.

I could go on and on about the mismanagement of money here and the lack of parental responsibility, but it just makes me furious, so I won't. But at that school you were at... like any kid is going to eat broccoli or a salad when mac and cheese is an option! That's why you've got to make all options equally healthy, so they can't choose the "bad" one.

stargzr... Ah! You're all falling out of the 160s and leaving me behind! I'm really happy for you, but I want to go with you!

Nuts and bolts are Shreddies, Cheerios, peanuts, pretzels, and puffed wheat. The sauce that goes on them is made of butter or margarine, worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, onion salt, and celery salt. They are absolutely delicious! They're definitely high in fiber and are pretty healthy, minus the butter and sodium.

I'm crossing my fingers for Saturday that I have a big loss, and drop down to to the 150s. I need to lose 2.1lbs to hit 159.9. I really hope your theory about muscle gaining fast in the early days is correct!

stargzr, congrats!!! You're awesome.

kirjava, that's too bad the situation some of your kiddos are in. I hate to see kids having to deal with stuff like that when their parents could make better choices for them. When I was teaching in Kenya, the school got food from the World Food Program. The kids ate the same gidtheri (maize and mushy green grams) every day, and for some of them, this was their only meal. It didn't taste great, but it was substantially more nutritious than what I see kids eating here. I would eat "school lunch" sometimes, mostly because the kids were thrilled to no end that a white person actually ate Kenyan food. Now, I'm teaching in a wealthy area (I literally drive past Microsoft on my way to most of the schools I work in) so the district on average should be able to serve good lunches, but some of the stuff I've seen in the cafeteria's is a little scary- I haven't yet ventured to eat any of it. Someone mentioned that learning to make good choices in the cafeteria is important and I definitely think that's a skill that we should be teaching out kids. Maybe fewer of them will have to deal with weight issues if they learned this stuff early.

Sorry, that was a major tangent! Hope everyone's doing great today and kirjava, I'll cross my fingers with you :)!

My post was a major tangent! It was a novel. :lol: It may not specifically be about our weight loss journeys, but it is about eating well and nutrition! I love hearing about your experiences in the States and in Kenya. I think schools should definitely teach more about nutrition and making good choices, but ultimately they have to provide more good choices to make kids take the leap. If kids are "forced" to try healthier foods because the bad options aren't there, they'll realize that healthy food can be just as delicious as the junk, and they'll be more likely to take some next time. If you have only healthy options in elementary school, infrequent junk in middle school, and a mix of both in high school, choosing healthy will become a habit.

I went to the gym again this afternoon and noticed I was able to increase the weight on the leg press this time! I'm now up to the weight that's labelled 5 (I'm assuming that means 50lbs?), up from 3 last week and 4 earlier this week. I was also able to do more reps with the hand weights.

Thanks for the crossed fingers, tuende!

Thanks everyone!

Congrats Stargzr!

Kirjava - my fingers are crossed for you :)

Thanks for the well-wishes, everyone!

Today after school the teachers had a volleyball game. I played... and was not very good. :lol: I can serve really well, but my volleying and bumping need a lot of work. It was really fun, though!

I want it to be tomorrow morning already so I can weigh in! I'm simultaneously scared and excited. I hope all of you who also do weekend weigh-ins see smaller numbers on the scale!